Bassists you just can't watch

[!Rob!]

sparky from complete he plays with no feeling and whats with the dr. seuss hat?

first Wentz, now this....my god, he's playing 2 strings on the same fret, and he needs to stare at the fretboard?

gtr player too, ....not a fan

 

[Nick Kay]

Arif from Protest the Hero. If I watch him for more than ten seconds, I start to cry because I know I'll never be nearly as good as him at playing OR being a showman.

 

[poisonoakie]

Charlie Haden. Definitely the best player on this list by FAR. One of the great innovators in experimental music also, but his technique is just painful to watch. He must have been born with the ability to play bass, because no instructor would teach his student to play like THAT.

 

[KarateKid25]

I saw Chevelle support a band here in Australia the other week. The bass player kept punching his bass to the beat. It got really annoying... He needed a punch

 

[rap138]

sting

 

[srxplayer]

anyone else besides pete, fieldy and trujillo?

im still trying to think of the worst one, besides pete that is

That guy from Sum 41. Ian Gershka (spelling???) Fat guy, no shirt jumping around on stage. Root notes and nothing else. what a goof.

 

[MoD_Scotty]

That guy from Sum 41. Ian Gershka (spelling???) Fat guy, no shirt jumping around on stage. Root notes and nothing else. what a goof.

Ian Grushka....he's actually in New Found Glory, and yeah, he's a total douche.

Link Removed

 

[joeydavidson]

^lol

I saw this band a few years ago and the bass player kept arching his back, it looked ridiculous, guess he wanted to ruin his spine

 

[joeydavidson]

I don't know about players I don't like watching but ...
Darcy Wretsky of Smashing Pumpkins was always VERY NICE to watch.

+ Melissa Auf Der Maur

 

[chicagodoubler]

regarding Trujillo being hard to watch:

Watch Some Kind of Monster. Anybody who can play Battery and crawl across the floor like a demon is WAY friggin cool in my book!

 

[DougD]

Jeff Berlin.

He wears blue jeans and blazers, like it is 1985. He's just anti-hip. And that chorusy sound he goes for gets to me. . .

Monster player, and I respect him greatly, but his just not very cool. And he bosses musicians around on stage, giving bad looks, and bad vibes.

I always think that he's traumatized because he thinks he's better than Jaco, and never has gotten nearly the recognition.

 

[ManDroid3ass7]

i cannot watch victor wooten. he looks like hes gotta take a dump the whole time or hes about to seizure haha. but he is damn amazing.

 

[OldSchoolBass]

wow... how can he even play like that?

Does there singer leave out parts of words on purpose? Or does he have an accent?

That is arguably the most annoying bass player (and clip for that matter that I've ever seen. :scowl:

:holdingbassuphightotheceilingstrummingsmilie:

 

[louieeadg]

Wow, this might be a bad first impression to make but uh...I like Pete Wentz. I mean, he doesn't get down and have all of the walking stuff like John Paul Jones did back in the day, but all in all, not many bassists do these days. I think Wentz' bass skills show quite well in "Dance, Dance" "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" and "I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me".

As far as bassists that I can't stand to watch? Well, as much as I love the guy, John Paul Jones. He's so still and rigid, and people wonder why bassists don't get much attention these days.

Pete Wentz gets attention, not only because of his looks, but because he has shattered the stereotype that all bassists are lame failed guitarists and have a rigid, non-moving, frame.

Is this guy for real?!

 

[djwackfriz]

I have to say, I enjoyed watching Pete Wentz.

It proved that there is at least one bass player in the whole world who sucks more than I do.

What a maroon.

 

[IndyBass]

first Wentz, now this....my god, he's playing 2 strings on the same fret, and he needs to stare at the fretboard?

gtr player too, ....not a fan

+1. More funny Sparky stuff in this "documentary": .

 

[dean82]

Duff McKagan. Not only can't play, but the bass slung down to his shins is a such an attractive look. It's like he lost a contact lens and he's hunched over looking for it. Set bass playing back about 15 years.

 

[GreyBeard]

Anyone who looks like they're have an orgasm while playing straight quarter notes.

 

[Sneckumhaw]

Duff McKagan. Not only can't play, but the bass slung down to his shins is a such an attractive look. It's like he lost a contact lens and he's hunched over looking for it. Set bass playing back about 15 years.

Yeah, he looks like a maroon, but in what way can't he play?

 

[Hoover]

This is probably TB sacrilege -- especially because he's probably my all time absolute favorite bassist -- but I cannot watch Tony Levin. It's a combination of his less-than-textbook right- and left-hand technique combined with his seemingly perfunctorily motivated yet awkwardly executed rock star posturing. He's like the Yin to Verdine White's Yang...both of those guys need to take some dancing lessons. Or some Valium.

Mick Karn, another one of my absolute favorite bassists to listen to: He has THE WORST right hand technique of any bassist I've ever seen. He plucks the strings the way an epileptic chimpanzee would forage for sand worms on an oil-slicked beach. I just cannot watch him play, it makes me cringe.

Fortunately, I can close my eyes and be happy listening to them.